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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28481283">zelda (throne of nothing)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/michpat6/pseuds/michpat6'>michpat6</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>aftermath [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Legend of Zelda &amp; Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Zelda POV, and s---- t-- b--, hee hee hoo hoo, in this house we stan forgiving each other for being stupid, my favorite fic tropes unite, no proofreading we post like men and then cringe at errors, they ---, this one sets up three separate "plot" threads lmaooooo, who needs a plot when all they do is yearn, zelda says fuck hylia lives</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:28:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,233</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28481283</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/michpat6/pseuds/michpat6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Goddess Statue stands tall in front of her, its back turned, silhouetted by the moon, and isn’t that a funny metaphor?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Link &amp; Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>aftermath [13]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2033743</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>147</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>zelda (throne of nothing)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She materializes on the shrine’s platform, and her nose immediately runs.</p><p>(Just like her.)</p><p>Zelda is not a fan of the cold.</p><p>The Goddess Statue stands tall in front of her, its back turned, silhouetted by the moon, and isn’t that a funny metaphor?</p><p>She steps off the platform, watching her breath spiral into the air, and walks through the snow to the pool of water that ruled her life a hundred years ago. Snowflakes melt on her cheeks and dampen her hair, and she wishes she could’ve stolen Link’s Rito headpiece without tipping him off to where she wanted to go, because then she would have taken it.</p><p>She puts the Sheikah Slate on her belt, crouches, and dips her fingers. The water is frigid, and her hand glows gold, her power crawling up her arm and spreading warmth through her body.</p><p>Zelda sighs.</p><p>The Spring of Wisdom has welcomed her back with open arms.</p><p>She kicks off her boots and cuffs her pants, pulling off her socks and wading into the spring. She trails her fingertips over the surface of the water, watching it ripple, and stops before the Goddess Statue, looking up into Hylia’s smiling face and clasping her hands before her chest.</p><p>(Is it narcissistic of her to pray to herself?)</p><p>“I am not you,” she says to the statue. “I never have been.”</p><p>It feels strange, to stand in a spring and pray and not have Link at her back, to not have him standing quiet on the platform behind her with the Master Sword whispering in his ear.</p><p>Not that he can hear its voice, anymore. Neither of them can.</p><p>“Is it fun for you?” she asks. “Watching us suffer like this? Was it your plan for us to fail a hundred years ago, for Link to die and for my power to awaken when it did?”</p><p>She unclasps her golden hands. Fire blossoms in her chest.</p><p>“You did this to us,” she continues. “You lost your war and your first Zelda was a failure and we suffered for it. You have made an innocent your chosen one and sent him off to die for a millennia. You make him a legend time and time again and then you snuff him out. You refuse to let his spirit rest.”</p><p>(She’s a failure, too. What did her father say? An heir to a throne of nothing?)</p><p>“Did you and the other goddesses place bets on him? How long it would take him to wake up? How long it would take him to find the sword? How long it would take him to kill the Calamity?” she raises her voice. “He may be your tool, but he is not mine. Your blood may run through my veins but <em>I am not you.</em>”</p><p>(Maybe she is.)</p><p>“I am not you,” she repeats. “I am not you, I never want to be you, so I need your help. I need…”</p><p>(The king was never one for affection, anyways. That was her mother’s specialty.)</p><p>Zelda swallows. “The first Zelda, you…You loved your Link, too, right?”</p><p>(She wishes Urbosa was here.)</p><p>“I still…” she falters, looking down at her distorted, bare feet in the water. “I still love him, I could never <em>not</em> love him, but…he doesn’t know who I am anymore. I used to know everything about him but now I don’t. I still see him there, sometimes-”</p><p>Like when they got to Kakariko and he waited for her at the top of Impa’s stairs, teasing her about her title. Like when he comforted her after her panic attack in the stable. Like when he got her her horse. Like every time she catches him staring at her when he thinks she isn’t looking.</p><p>(He stares at her like he did a hundred years ago. Why?)</p><p>“-but it’s not the same,” she looks back to the statue. “He wants to help me, he wants me to let him in, but I can’t without forgetting. So I need <em>you</em> to help me.”</p><p>The spring water goes still. The snow stops falling. There’s a glint in Hylia’s stone eye.</p><p>“<em>Little Goddess</em>.”</p><p>She spins around and finds the Calamity kneeling in the middle of the platform where Link would stand.</p><p>It stares at her, yellow eyes bright and red hair flowing in the wind. “You called?”</p><p>“How are you-” she takes a step back. “This is impossible, I’m awake-”</p><p>“You are,” It tilts its head, intrigued. “Yet here I am.”</p><p><em>This doesn’t make sense-</em> </p><p>“You’re dead,” she tells it, trembling.</p><p>“I am.”</p><p>“So how are you here?”</p><p>It continues to stare at her.</p><p>Her power hums in her hands. “<em>Answer me</em>.”</p><p>It doesn’t.</p><p>Zelda shoves her power towards it and a ray of golden light shoots from her palms at the demon. She watches, shocked, as her power passes right through it and explodes on contact with the marble platform, leaving a smoking crater where it kneels.</p><p>Calamity Ganon laughs, and climbs to its feet. Zelda stumbles and falls into the shallow water, scrambling back until she hits Hylia’s pedestal. Her heart pounds and she can’t catch her breath and <em>how did it do that</em>-</p><p>“You’re so…<em>strange</em>,” It muses, stepping into the spring with its hands behind its back. The water doesn’t ripple, undisturbed by its boot. When it picks its foot up to take another step, it looks dry. “You’re terrified of me, and yet you fight back.”</p><p>She sends another blast and watches the golden ray pass through its chest and shoot into the stars.</p><p>It steps closer. “For all of your Wisdom, you’re very stupid.”</p><p>“I’m real,” she whispers, clenching her hands into fists. “I’m real, I’m real, I’m real-”</p><p>It crouches in front of her and says, “Yes, you are.”</p><p>“<em>Then what are you</em>?”</p><p>It looks up and into Hylia’s stone eyes, and says nothing.</p><p>Then there’s a tug in her gut and all she feels is bone-crushing guilt, heart-wrenching distress, and a deep, primal rage that rivals the hatred of the Calamity.</p><p>The Calamity, who tells her with a savage grin, “Looks like your Hero needs saving.”</p><p><em>The Master Sword, </em>she realizes. The emotions aren’t hers. <em>Link.</em></p><p>The Calamity disappears.</p><p>Her fingers feel numb as she takes the Sheikah Slate off her belt and warps back to Hateno, not even caring that she’s soaking wet and barefoot and that the boots and socks Link took the time to buy her will probably be buried and ruined by the snow in minutes.</p><p>She feels the Master Sword’s panic and rage like her own heartbeat, the energy pulsing in her eardrums and causing her power to flare, sparks flying from her golden hands as she sprints down the trail to the house, shoving the slate back on her hip as she nearly trips on a rock.</p><p>She thinks the house is shaking, she can hear the buzzing even from her spot on the bridge, and when she reaches the front door she can feel it in her bones.</p><p>She can also hear Link screaming.</p><p>Zelda throws the front door open, and freezes. Her power dies in her chest and the golden glow fades from her hands.</p><p>Link is curled in a ball in his bed, his hands clamped over his ears as he yells for the Master Sword to stop. The Master Sword lies flat on the floor, vibrating so hard it rattles back and forth.</p><p>As soon as she steps into the house, the Master Sword goes silent. Link’s hoarse scream echoes as he quiets, trembling in the sheets.</p><p>“Link?” she asks.</p><p>His head whips up, he takes his hands off of his ears, and he stares at her. He stares at her, and then he whispers, “Zelda?”</p><p>She has never heard her name said with such...<em>awe</em>.</p><p>“Are you okay?” It’s the stupidest question in the world, but it’s not like she can just ask him, <em>Hey, why were you screaming at your sword?</em></p><p>Surprisingly, he shakes his head, sitting up. The blanket falls from his chest, and-He’s shirtless. Why is he shirtless?</p><p>That’s when she spots the pile of clothes on the floor, and scratch that, he’s only wearing underwear.</p><p>“Can you…” Link swallows. “Can you come here?”</p><p>She nods, padding over and standing beside him.</p><p>Again, he stares at her. Then he lifts his hand and grazes his knuckles from her cheek to her chin, stroking her face.</p><p>(What is he doing? What is he doing and why is he doing it and he’s in his <em>underwear</em>-)</p><p>“You’re here,” he breathes. “You’re really here.”</p><p>“Yes,” Zelda manages.</p><p>“You...” he flips his hand and now he’s cupping her face- “You came back?”</p><p>“Yes,” she repeats, breathless. Their faces are close in the dark.</p><p>(She wonders, distantly, if he would kiss her the same. She wonders if he even remembers how she likes to be kissed.)</p><p>“You came back,” he echoes, quieter.</p><p>(She wouldn’t be opposed to teaching him.)</p><p>He leans in-</p><p>“Link,” she says, lifting her hands to push him away-</p><p>(As selfish as she is, it can’t happen like this.)</p><p>He buries his face in her neck and hugs her tight.</p><p><em>Oh, </em>she thinks, slowly hugging him back.</p><p>(She really is stupid.)</p><p>“I thought you were dead,” Link says. “I-I thought you were dead and you weren’t coming back and that I failed you-”</p><p>“You could never fail me,” she reassures. “I’m right here, I’m alive-”</p><p>“You can’t do that again,” he cuts her off. “Do you understand? You can’t-You can’t <em>leave</em> like that. I-I was <em>so</em> worried and the Master Sword wasn’t helping-”</p><p>She’s hit by another wave of guilt, a mix of her own and the sword’s. “What did it do?”</p><p>He shakes his head. “I’ll tell you later, just…” he takes a deep breath. “Where did you go?”</p><p>They’re still hugging. She doesn’t want it to end, of course she doesn’t, but Link, even Before, was never this…huggy. Sure, he would hold her all of the time, but never like this.</p><p>He’d never cling like he thought she would disappear if he let go.</p><p>“The Spring of Wisdom,” she answers.</p><p>“Is that why you’re wet?”</p><p>“I, um…” <em>I hallucinated Calamity Ganon because I haven’t slept in a week, also I want you to kiss me until I can’t breathe. Interested?</em> “I tripped. And my shoes are still up there.”</p><p>He pulls away, and looks down at her bare feet. Then he looks back to her face, and his eyebrows furrow as he frowns. “You’re shivering.”</p><p>Is she?</p><p>“Yes,” he says, and did she say that out loud? He leans over the side of the bed, picks up his shirt-the Champion’s tunic-and holds it out to her. “Put this on.”</p><p>Zelda blinks. Did she hear him right? “What?”</p><p>“Change into this,” he says. “It’s dry, and we need to do laundry so there’s nothing else for you to wear. I promise it’s clean enough.”</p><p>The last time she wore this shirt…</p><p>(The last time she wore this shirt they were doing something very different.)</p><p>But she’s cold, and she’s tired, and she’ll get sick if she sleeps in these wet clothes.</p><p>“Okay,” she croaks, watching him turn to face the wall.</p><p>She changes into the Champion’s tunic, and it smells the same. It smells the same, which means <em>he</em> smells the same, which means she’s a goner.</p><p>(She’s always been a goner for him.)</p><p>The Champion’s tunic has always been large on her, but because of her now-smaller frame it hangs even further past her waist, brushing her knees. It might as well be a nightgown.</p><p>Zelda bites her lip. Her pants are soaked, too, and the shirt is low enough…</p><p><em>Screw it, </em>she thinks, and takes off her pants, placing the Sheikah Slate where he usually puts it on the floor. <em>Not like we’re going to share the bed or anything.</em></p><p>But, of course, the universe hates her and Link is too kind, because when he turns back around and sees her standing there in just his shirt, all he does is smile. Then he scoots over, making room on his bed, and tugs her onto it with him.</p><p>“<em>Link</em>,” she gasps as he wraps his arms back around her, rubbing his hands back and forth on hers. On instinct, she leans into him, pillowing her head on his shoulder and curling into his side- “What are you-”</p><p>“You’re cold,” he says, dragging his blanket over their legs. “I’m warm.”</p><p>“You don’t have to-” Goddesses, he is, of course he is, he’s the warmest thing in this damn house and she fucking <em>hates</em> the cold- “I have my own bed with a blanket upstairs-”</p><p>His grip on her tightens, and <em>oh</em>.</p><p>(She knows him like the back of her hand, so she knows he’s not good at asking for help. He never has been.)</p><p>Zelda swallows her pride, and shuts up.</p><p>(It’s not about her being cold.)</p><p>She hugs him back.</p><p>(He doesn’t want her to leave.)</p><p>He whispers, “Thank you.”</p><p>She whispers back, “I’m sorry I ran. I wasn’t thinking.”</p><p>Link sighs, and the tension seems to finally leave his body. “I wasn’t thinking, either.”</p><p>Then he’s laying down and she’s laying down and they’re laying down <em>together</em> in his <em>bed-</em></p><p>And Zelda is <em>so</em> tired, and Link is <em>so</em> warm.</p><p>Her eyes close against her will and she’s gone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wanted to post this before the new year started but my brain said "what if zelda yearned even more" and then I added like a bunch of words</p><p>also if link seems quick to be "fine" its cause its not his pov we're not done with him yet :)))))</p><p>happy 2021!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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